1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to identifying signal loss caused by defective areas in recording media, and more particularly to a media defect compensation system and method that modify a signal to compensate for signal loss due to media defects.
2. Description of Related Art
Recording media (e.g., those employed in conjunction with electronic devices) typically have one or more defects. “Defects” in this context may be caused by inefficiencies or inaccuracies associated with manufacturing processes, impact damage (e.g., scratches) or surface smudges caused by mishandling, particulate contamination, and other factors. Irrespective of the source, such defects tend to cause variations in signals reproduced from the recording medium; for example, defects can result in weak signals, a baseline shift in the reproduced signal, or a total loss of signal when a reading device tries to read data from a defective location on a recording medium.
Defect detectors can generally determine the location of a defective portion of the recording medium, and can additionally identify amplitude variations or baseline shifts of a signal associated with defective areas. However, conventional media defect detectors cannot correct for detected defects. While these defect detectors can identify the existence of a defect at a particular location, and may instruct a device to re-try reading the medium, traditional detectors, and the system architectures in which they are employed, generally provide no mechanism to compensate for signal loss or other variations caused by the defect.
It may be desirable to provide a system and method that are capable of adjusting or modifying a signal reproduced from a recording medium to compensate for deleterious effects on signal quality caused by detected defects in the medium.